Get Smart – and other thoughts of
summer

An Illusion Review by Joan Ellis

Is it always
this bad? Probably so. Every summer brings a trickle of barely watchable movies,
a few mediocre blockbusters, and one or two good independents. What’s a reviewer
to do? First, see and write about the ones that fly into town on the wings of
hype, an obligation of sorts. And so it went: Iron Man, Indiana Jones and the
Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Sex and the City, The Incredible Hulk.

Of these,
only Iron Man lived up to advance word. Robert Downey Jr. morphs from weapons
manufacturer to man with a conscience with great charm. Because it’s a comic
book, we watch the creation of a super hero who wins out over a super villain (a
good surprise), but by the time that happens, the audience is hooked on the
carefully laid story and waits in a state of delightful anticipation for the man
of metal.

Indiana Jones
brought a modicum of fun but paled in comparison to Indy #1. The Incredible Hulk
is all hulk and no story, a bust. Sex and the City offered two hours of four
women who believe the good life depends entirely on shopping and men. Without an
ounce of joy in their collective crusade to snare moneyed lives, the four
actresses are mere stick figures.

The
independents? Helen Hunt’s Then She Found Me was a good try that was diminished
by the grumpiness of the main character. So far, the prize for this summer goes
to The Visitor, a beauty of a movie, a story acted with understatement and quiet
sensitivity. This one could well top the list at year’s end.

After pecking
through this week’s offerings, only Get Smart seemed a possibility. Steve
Carell's awkward insensibility works here, just as it does in The Office. But
the filmmakers have labored too obviously for their comedy. It creaks.
Highlights in the dust: Smart rushing through a series of tech-type security
doors only to make his final descent to headquarters through a moldy old public
telephone booth. Watch also for an incongruous trap door topped by a stationary
duck in the middle of the Washington Mall reflecting pool – a great scene with
the Lincoln Memorial in the background.

I liked also
a Swiss Army knife with a cross bow and a flame thrower, a free fall parachute
jump ultimately ruined when the filmmakers substitute the ludicrous for the
merely implausible. The villain is a caricature, Alan Arkin predictably good;
but this movie is a mega millions confirmation that no amount of money or
special effects can compensate for the lack of a good story (as in Iron Man).

As much as I
love the darkened theater, I suggest that you rush to the video store to rent
The Visitor as soon as it comes out. Take it home, turn off all electronic
gadgets, and settle in to watch what we all mean when we talk about a “good
movie.”